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Canadians Want Transparency With Saudi Arms Deal

Since the Trudeau government announced the plans to go ahead with their $15-billion military exports contract, an increasing number of citizens have been voicing their concerns. Citizens want to see more transparency involved with the deal and they want to know how it was determined by the Canadian government that there would be no possible risk for the Saudis to use these weapons against civilians.

Just this year Saudi Arabia has come under harsh criticism over their recent beheading or dozens of their citizens. Many people around the world have condemned the executions and are baffled at how a nation that operates in this way could be tasked to head a United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council. Overall however, the response from the West over Saudi executions is largely muted. There is far more coverage on Western media for the beheadings that are carried out by others like those involved with terrorist organizations. However, there is still pause for concern that weapons sent to Saudi Arabia could end-up being used for an unjustified cause.

Trudeau previously made the pledge that he would be accepting of the new Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) which went into force in December of 2014. So far, both Canada and Saudi Arabia haven't agreed to the treaty. However, Trudeau supporters will be expecting to see him follow through with this promise. Trudeau also has yet to make good on his pledge to address sensitive and controversial sections of Bill C-51 and to implement legalization, although he has signaled that he is moving in the direction of tackling both.

This deal between Saudi Arabia is going to be the largest military export contract that Canada has ever seen. And citizens are calling on the Trudeau government to address concerns surrounding the valid questions regarding this controversial $15-billion dollar arms deal. Meanwhile, it was announced this week that there is a lack of funding in Toronto for 24-hour winter homeless shelters, as political representatives allegedly left a gap within their funding for the program next year. Food bank use is also on the rise in general as more Canadians struggle to meet their daily needs. But we can somehow justify spending billions on sending weapons to Saudi Arabia and on bombing Syria.